Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, center, speaks at a press conference at the Newtown Municipal Center about the progress and recovery of the educators in the Newtown school system, as the two year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting approaches. On right is Stephen McKeever, 1st vice president of A.F.T. Connecticut, on left is Tom Kuroski, head of the Newtown Educators Foundation and a teacher in Newtown High School. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014. less

Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, center, speaks at a press conference at the Newtown Municipal Center about the progress and recovery of the educators in the Newtown school system, ... more

Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, center, speaks at a press conference at the Newtown Municipal Center about the progress and recovery of the educators in the Newtown school system, as the two year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting approaches. On right is Stephen McKeever, 1st vice president of A.F.T. Connecticut, on left is Tom Kuroski, head of the Newtown Educators Foundation and a teacher in Newtown High School. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014. less

Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, center, speaks at a press conference at the Newtown Municipal Center about the progress and recovery of the educators in the Newtown school system, ... more

But the community is still feeling the effects of the killings of 26 students and educators nearly two years ago.

Weingarten said after the millions in grant funding that paid for additional counseling and mental health services are gone, their needs will not be forgotten. A $3 million federal grant for traumatized districts is slated to expire at the end of the 2015-16 school year.

"It's not a bottomless pit,'' Newtown Federation of Teachers President Thomas Kuroski said of the grant funds.

So it's important for the national and state federations to become champions for the cause, Weingarten said.

On her third visit to Newtown since the shootings, Weingarten toured the school and watched teachers and students in action. She met one-on-one with at least six Sandy Hook faculty members who were in the school on Dec. 14, 2012, and discussed their recovery and expectation of future needs.

Based on those discussions, Weingarten said she is committed to fight for access to the long-term, ongoing mental health services. She said she is an advocate for educators who downplay their fears and concerns to foster a positive learning environment.

"These are our heroes," Weingarten said. "They are amazing, wonderful people, and we need to support them."

Weingarten said the wounds are far from healed. She said some may never be healed, so the availability of long-term mental health services needs to remain as much as the physical school security measures implemented in districts nationwide.

Educators are a type of first-responders, even though they may not be recognized as such, Weingarten said.

Weingarten said the community's call for sustainable mental health services, counseling and security measures will not be swept away or forgotten.